Chapter 24 Chapter Nineteen False Pride

he lives.After examining the fallen ranger, a mercenary gestured to Jarlaxle. The mercenary chief motioned for him to turn the fallen Drizzt over so that Drizzt's face was clear of the water.Jarlaxle scanned the calm lake, knowing that the sounds of battle would echo clearly in the water.The mercenary leader saw a floating disc with a unique gray-blue light floating from the shore. This kind of magic floating disc is usually used to board the mistresses of various families in the city.Jarlaxle knew they were now carrying house soldiers of House Baenre. keep him.The mercenary chief gestured to his soldiers, as well as his equipment.Almost remorseful, Jarlaxle took out the whistle and put it in his mouth again, looking at Drizzt and letting out a sharp whistle.The whistle's magic showed him that the ranger was wearing magical armor, at least as good as the drow made it.Jarlaxle sighed even more when he saw the flash of magic light.He would have been happy to add the scimitar to his arsenal, but everyone in Menzoberranzan city knows that Drizzt Do'Urden uses two scimitars, and if one is missing, the mercenary leader will just Invited to Matron Baenre to face trouble.

Drizzt wore few other magical items, save for one that caught the attention of the mercenary leader.Its magic was strong indeed, and it shone with a special gleam of charm, the kind of treasure that the wary Jarlaxle had learned so well. His mercenary had turned the unconscious ranger on his side, and Drizzt's face emerged from the dark water and turned to Jarlaxle, but the mercenary leader stopped him.Take off that pendant.Jarlaxle's fingers gesticulated. The mercenary turned around, as if he had just noticed the approaching floating disc. "What about the people of Ban Rui's family?" He asked in a low voice when he turned to face the leader.

They will find their prey.Jarlaxle signed confidently, and Matron Baenre would know who delivered Drizzt Do'Urden to her. ※※※※ Entreri had no intention of asking the name of the drow woman he was about to kill this time.He was moving with the Dayet mercenary group, and now this drow was just like the one in the hut built by the giant bamboo stem, hindering their actions, and she was also a witness. A well-timed glance stopped him at the sight of a familiar gem-encrusted dagger pinned to the drow's belt. Entreri pondered the woman close to his face, the point of the sword still pressed against her neck, forcing out a few drops of blood.He slid the sword deftly, provoking a series of goosebumps on her smooth skin.

"Why are you here?" Entreri demanded breathlessly, genuinely taken aback.He knew that the drow in front of him hadn't come to Menzoberranzan at the same time as Drizzt - Senator Fober of Blingdenstone must have told her the way.Jarlaxle must know her! And now that she was here, she knew an astonishing amount of things. Entreri swung the sword around her neck again, and lightly raised the point against her jaw, pulling away the magic mask. Catti-brie struggles with her fear of rising higher.How similar it was to the first time she was caught by Artemis Entreri, the assassin aroused an unreasonable panic in her heart, a kind of monster that no other monster, not even a dragon or a Tatros demon, could bring. A deep sense of dread came.

And here he was again, miraculously alive, with a sword at her bare throat. "A pleasant surprise," Entreri mused, then laughed maliciously, as if finding the best possible use for his captive. Catti-brie wanted to jump off the rock - she would have thought so even if she had been on a cliff a thousand feet above the ground!She could feel the hairs on the back of her head standing up one by one, and she could feel the beads of sweat rolling from the brows. "No," she said.Entreri's features creased suspiciously. "No?" He responded, not understanding that it was her conclusion based on his inner thoughts.

Catti-brie stared at him firmly. "Then you survived." She stated the facts, "to live with a group of guys like you." She saw the slight change in the assassin's face, and she knew Entreri didn't like the idea.What he did next confirmed her suspicions: he smashed a bruise on her cheek with the hilt of his sword so hard that blood dripped from her nose. Catti-brie was thrown backwards, but straightened up immediately, staring at the assassin without blinking.She couldn't let Entreri enjoy seeing her scared, not this time. "I should kill you," Entreri whispered, "kill you slowly."

Catti-brie laughed at him loudly. "Come on then," she retorted. "You can't scare me, because I've seen Drizzt beat you with my own eyes." Entreri was suddenly furious, and almost pierced her with his sword. "It was," he corrected, and looked menacingly at the reef. "I've seen you two fall from great heights more than once." At this critical moment, Catti-brie retorted loudly with all the confidence she could muster, "I won't treat either of you as dead unless I touch it with my own hands." Cold corpse!" "Drizzt is alive." A soft voice came from behind, using the standard common language on the surface.Jarlaxle, who had spoken, walked up to Entreri with two members of the Dayet mercenaries.One of them stopped to finish off the dark elf writhing on the ground with a wounded side.

Controlling his anger, Entreri slapped Catti-brie again, but this time she raised her stiff hand and twisted her wrist to slap him away. Jarlaxle stepped between the two of them, staring at Catti-brie with interest. "Lucky as the spider that Rose blessed," said the mercenary chief, hitting Catti-brie on the bruised cheek with a wave. "The Banrui family is here." The soldier behind the mercenary leader reminded him in drow. "Yes." Jarlaxle replied absently, again, in predicament.He seemed completely attracted to the exotic woman in front of him. "We have to go."

Catti-brie stood up straight, as if waiting for the final blow.Jarlaxle raised his hand, but only removed her headdress, leaving her eyes in darkness.She did not resist when the Tamarib and quiver were taken, and she knew that it was Entreri who had roughly pulled the dagger from the scabbard at his waist. A strong, but unexpectedly gentle hand took her arm and carried her away—far away from the fallen Drizzt. ※※※※ Captured again.Drizzt thought, the treatment this time could not be as good as that of Blingdenstone.He not only threw himself into the trap, but also put the fat on the table.

He was handcuffed to the wall and had to stand on tiptoe so as not to hang his weight on his sore wrist.He didn't remember how he came to this place, and he didn't know how long he had been hung in this dark and dirty room, but both his wrists were aching, and many scorching wounds flashed in the thermal vision , It seems that a large area of ​​skin has been worn out.Drizzt's left shoulder still hurt, as did the long cut from Entreri's sword that ran from his chest to his armpit. But he realized that a priest must have cleaned the cut and healed him, because it was in much worse condition when he jumped off the cliff.But such speculation gave Drizzt little moral encouragement, for drow sacrifices were usually perfectly healthy when offered to the Spider Queen.

But even though he was in constant pain and couldn't help himself, You Xia still tried his best to make himself feel better.Drizzt already knew in his heart that no matter what, this would be the end in the end, he would be caught and killed, so that the friends of Mithril Hall could live in peace.Drizzt had long ago prepared to accept death, resigned himself to that end when he finally left Mithril Hall.But why did he feel restless? For the moment the ordinary room was nothing more than a cave, with manacles on three stone walls, and an iron cage hanging from the ceiling.Drizzt's view of the room was interrupted—the iron-clad door creaked open, and two drow female warriors in uniform burst in, standing erect on either side of the entrance. Drizzt gritted his teeth, his eyes fixed, determined to face the end of his life with dignity. An illithid came through the door. Drizzt opened his mouth wide, but immediately returned to normal.A mind flayer?He froze, but as he pondered the monster, he realized he must be in the dungeon at Baenry's house.It was not a reassuring thought, either for him or his friends. Two drow priests followed the illithid in.One of them was short, with a malevolent face, sharp as a knife, and tight lips; the other was taller and looked more majestic, but had the same expression.Then came the legendary figure, the haggard Mistress, who sat comfortably on the magic floating disk, and beside her stood another female drow - she looked like the Mistress when she was younger and beautiful.At the end of the line are two men, both warriors as can be seen from their clothes and weapons. The light from Matron Baenre's disc shifted Drizzt's vision to normal vision—showing him a pile of bones beneath another pair of shackles. Drizzt looked around, and as he looked at the two drow males, his gaze rested on the younger one for a long moment.He believed it to be Boyinyon, a fellow at the drow academy, a second-rate fighter in Drizzt's class--second to Drizzt. Three young women lined up behind Matron Baenre's disk; two men stood beside two female warriors by the door.The illithid, the one that startled and terrified Drizzt, was walking towards the captured drow, its tentacles waving just near Drizzt's face, brushing his skin , mocking him.Drizzt had seen such tentacles sucking the brains of a dark elf before, and now all he could do when the hideous thing was so close was bear it. "Drizzt Do'Urden," Matron Baenre began. She knows his name.Drizzt found this a bad omen.A gloomy feeling of uneasiness rose again in him, and he began to understand the reason for it. "Fool who thinks he is noble!" Matron Baenre suddenly yelled, "Come to Menzoberranzan, knowing that the price is your poor head!" Slapped him across the face. "Idiots who think they are noble and great! Do you dare to think that you will win? Do you think that the tradition of five thousand years will be interrupted because of poor and despicable you?" Drizzt was taken aback by this outburst of rage, but he remained calm, keeping his eyes straight ahead. Mistress Ban Rui's angry face suddenly dissipated, and suddenly changed into a distorted smiling face.Drizzt had always hated this quality of his people.Such moodiness and uncertainty of the dark elves catch enemies and allies alike off guard, and captives or guests are never quite sure where they stand. "Let your pride be satisfied, Drizzt Do'Urden." Matron Baenry said with a giggle, "I introduce you to my daughter Bradenkath Baenry, second daughter after Trill .” She pointed to the woman standing in the middle. "And Van der Si Baenry," she went on, pointing to the youngest of the three, "and Kunshel. After that are my sons, Dandra, and Boyinyon, whom you already know." "It's a pleasure to meet you." Drizzt looked happily at Bo Yinyong.Just as he was about to put on a smiling face to say hello, Madam Baenry slapped him again. "Six Baenrys have come to see you, Drizzt Do'Urden," continued Matron Baenry, and Drizzt reckoned she would not forget to repeat his name in every sentence! "You should be honored, Drizzt Do'Urden." "I should have folded my arms to show my honor," Drizzt retorted, "but..." He looked helplessly at his locked hands, and got another hot blow on the face as soon as he said the words palm. "You know you are to be dedicated to Queen Lolth," said Matron Baenre. Drizzt looked her directly in the eyes, "What you offer is only flesh, never soul." "Very well," Matron Baenre murmured. "You will not die happily, I promise. You are a source of information, Drizzt Do'Urden." For the first time in the conversation, a dark cloud loomed over Drizzt. "I'll torture him, mother." Vanders responded impatiently. "Datak!" Matron Baenre snapped, turning quickly to her daughter. "Datak." Drizzt whispered silently, recognizing the name.In the drow language, "Datak" actually refers to the terrible executioner.It was also the nickname given to one of the daughters of the Baenres - apparently this one - who would turn living drow into statues of ebony, which were often displayed in front of the Academy. "Fantastic," Drizzt muttered. "You must have heard of my precious daughter?" Matron Baenre turned to the prisoner. "I promise she will be with you, Drizzt Do'Urden, but if you provide me with precious after the information." Drizzt cast a questioning glance at the haggard old matron. "You can take any torture," said Matron Baenre, "I have no doubts about it, good-natured fool." She raised her hand and patted the illithid who had walked back to her side, "but Can you hold off the onslaught of a mind flayer?" Drizzt's face paled.He was once a prisoner of cruel illithids, and turned into a miserable fool who couldn't help himself. His will almost collapsed under the extremely powerful mental oppression of illithids.Was it possible for him to resist such an invasion? "You thought it was over, you fool!" shrieked Matron Baenre. "You brought a windfall, you stupid, conceited, self-important fool!" Drizzt felt the depression come back tenfold.He could no longer hide his timidity as the Matron continued, her deduction tearing Drizzt Do'Urden's heart. "You are nothing more than a windfall," she said. "You will help us win an even bigger one. Mithral Hall will fall to us more easily, because King Bruenor Warhammer's strongest ally is not with him. There. And it is this ally who will tell us the weakness of the dwarves." "Myhill!" she began to command, and the illithid made a beeline for Drizzt.The ranger closed his eyes tightly, but he could still feel the monster's four octopus tentacles wriggling on his face, as if looking for some place to invade. Drizzt screamed and shook his head wildly, even managing to bite one of the tentacles. The illithid stepped back. "Datak!" Matron Baenre gave the order, and Van Dess, who was about to move, immediately rushed forward, slamming the fist wrapped in a brass glove to Drizzt's cheek.One punch, another punch, the tormenting pleasure made her push harder and harder. "Does he have to be conscious?" she asked in a pleading tone. "Enough!" Drizzt heard Matron Baenre's reply, but her voice seemed to be coming from far away.Fanders punched him again, and he felt the tentacles creep back up his face.He wanted to dodge and turn his face away, but he was powerless. The tentacles took hold, and Drizzt felt a slight pulse of energy in his face. For the next ten minutes Drizzt screamed completely unconsciously, as the mind flayer penetrated into his consciousness, pouring countless horrific images into his mind, swallowing every resistance of his will. Though he didn't realize it, Drizzt had been fighting the whole time, so Myhill stepped back from him, turned and shrugged at Matron Baenry. "What do you know?" asked Matron Baenre. This guy is tough.It would take longer, Mechel replied telepathically. "Go on!" cried Matron Baenre. "He's going to die." Mai Hill's voice gurgled as if emerging from underwater, "Wait until tomorrow." Matron Baenre considered for a while, then nodded in agreement.She looked at Fenders, the malevolent Datak, and gestured the berserk drow to lunge at Drizzt. Drizzt's world fell into darkness.